Ch.128128. Ben Guytenping (1)

Dragon.

This word, which refers to the purest and most noble of dragonkind, represents a race that undoubtedly possesses the greatest strength among all beings with mortal flesh.

Their monstrous strength allows them to demolish castles with their bare bodies without any tools, their breath can erase even the mightiest humanoids without a trace, and their brilliant minds are so perfect that they never forget a treasure once seen.

Furthermore, their lifespan extends beyond 10,000 years, and throughout this long existence, dragons not only avoid aging but continuously grow stronger.

A dragon’s senses are almost magical, allowing them to perceive their surroundings even while in deep slumber, and they possess a unique vision that differs conceptually from that of ordinary races.

Their heart, the Dragon Heart, endlessly produces magical power, which becomes the source of the transcendent power that dragons exert.

They can perform complex tasks unimaginable to humanoids, such as simultaneously using aura while incanting magic.

Moreover, dragons are innately gifted with capabilities as combatants.

Without formal education, dragons can wield their own unique magic, and without any master, they can draw enormous amounts of aura from their hearts.

Thanks to their transcendent intellect and near-perfect memory storage capacity, they possess natural talent for learning.

They can learn to speak an unknown language after just 10 minutes of observation, and within an hour, they can speak almost like a native speaker, save for some vocabulary.

They can analyze and steal a magician’s most devoted ritual simply by watching it, and can instantly mimic close combat techniques.

For these reasons, dragons were considered the foremost race in this land and the offspring of the Great Mother Dragon-god Tiamat.

…Of course, this is the perception among themselves, and the reality is somewhat different… but since it matches to some extent, let’s just leave it at that.

Anyway, regardless of the details, dragons, while being the strongest among mortal races, are not very numerous, yet even limiting to purebloods excluding subspecies, they are divided into various lineages.

Elemental Dragons, whose affinity with specific elements reaches such heights that they can transform their bodies into that element, comparable to elementals where the element itself has become monstrous.

Nature Dragons, who have adapted their physical abilities to their habitats, becoming so integrated with their environments that they might be mistaken for subspecies at first glance.

Metal Dragons, whose scales have mutated into specific metals, becoming sturdier through continuous consumption of or contact with various metals like gold, silver, or platinum.

And finally, Colored Dragons, the most common dragon species, closest to dragons depicted in fantasy media, characterized by scales unified in a single color.

Particularly, Colored Dragons embody the classic image of the greedy dragon—the stereotypical dragon that hoards treasure and receives sacrifices from nearby villages…

Since these are the most numerous among the already scarce dragon population, dragons are naturally treated as vermin deserving death in the current Rom Empire.

Anyway, typically, Colored Dragons have an intense greed for offerings like gold and jewels, and despite having no real need, they insist on receiving living sacrifices from nearby villages for their “use.”

Being treated as a maid would be fortunate; usually, they become concubines to these extremely lustful dragons, or worse, subjects for magical experiments or simply the day’s meal.

And among these, the dragon considered most ferocious and devoted to such acts is the Red Dragon, an evil dragon with red scales that breathes fire… but.

Exceptions exist everywhere, and a prime example is—

“…Yaaaawn.”

Ben Gaitenphang, an adult (Grade 3) Red Dragon living in a cave within the rugged northern mountain range of the Empire.

A male dragon of the Gaitenphang clan of the Red Dragon lineage, he was a kind of mutant Red Dragon.

Normally, the ferocity displayed by Colored Dragons, especially Red Dragons, is something innately engraved in their souls and bodies, a congenital trait.

But Ben, unlike his siblings, was not ferocious, which led him to feel disillusioned during his upbringing in his mother dragon’s nest.

His mother merely allowed him to stay in the nest and occasionally tossed him half-dead prey. His siblings fought to the death, driven purely by instinct without reason.

Considering that Red Dragons sometimes completely abandon their offspring, this could be considered an exemplary Red Dragon family.

However, the rational Ben felt disillusioned with his kin and eventually, upon reaching sub-adulthood (intermediate level), he became independent and settled in the northern mountain range.

It was a perfect territory with abundant prey (intermediate monsters), rare high-level monsters, and no other adult dragons nearby.

Additionally, there were humans living in villages near these treacherous mountains, so Ben took up observing them as a hobby to alleviate his boredom.

Thanks to this, he was spending peaceful days leisurely pursuing his hobby of magical research, modifying his cave-home, and watching the quaint daily lives of humans, but…

“Foul evil dragon! I, the great warrior Belatus, shall dispose of you!”

[…???]

Suddenly, self-proclaimed righteous whatever-they-were began invading his sanctuary.

[…Get lost.]

KWAAAANG!!!

“AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!”

At first, Ben thought they were just trespassers putting on airs, so he cast a spell without incantation and sent the warrior flying far into the sky.

“Avenger of Belatus! His disciple—”

[…Disappear.]

FWOOOSH—BOOM!!!

But as time passed, people kept coming relentlessly, so Ben eventually captured some of them to ask why they were invading.

And the words that came from their mouths… were something he didn’t want to understand.

※ ※ ※

It all began from a place Ben never expected.

Having settled close enough to see the human village, Ben had been spotted a few times flying out to hunt for food.

Of course, after going out hunting like this a few times, Ben no longer went out directly but sent magically created servants to hunt instead…

The problem started here.

The fact that a Red Dragon, infamous for its ferocity, had appeared was visible from the human village, and this fact became a rumor that a dragon had appeared, spreading rapidly in all directions.

Initially, it was simply a straightforward account that a Red Dragon had appeared nearby, but after passing through the mouths of several braggarts and bards…

The final, greatly exaggerated rumor became that this Red Dragon had invaded the northern region, plundered all sorts of treasures, and returned to its lair.

And naturally, these appetizing rumors attracted flies.

While an adult dragon is a monstrous strategic weapon surpassing armies, the common knowledge about dragons in the world is vaguely limited to “dragons are strong.”

In reality, how many people have experience fighting the already rare pureblooded dragons?

Naturally, most dragon hunters had only caught wyverns at best, mistaking them for dragons while boasting exaggerated tales.

Even when they occasionally hunted real dragons, these were merely intermediate sub-adults, leading to mainstream rumors that mid-level warriors had slain adult dragons.

These people, consumed by greed for non-existent treasures and dragon bodies worth flying gold, eventually disturbed what should never have been disturbed.

Thus, in the northern region of the Empire, warriors bloated with arrogance, madmen chasing honor, and groups seriously intending to hunt dragons in their own way were approaching him…

[…?]

For Ben, who had lived quietly and even occasionally performed good deeds, this was so absurd that he was left speechless beyond disbelief.